Unlocked Samsung ATIV S now receiving Window Phone 8 GDR2 OS update

It was just yesterday that people in Canada on Bell, Telus or Rogers who also owned the under-rated (and underappreciated) Samsung ATIV S were greeted with a double OS and firmware update, bringing their phones up to the coveted GDR2 status (OS build 10327).

Of course it was later revealed that some features like FM Radio (which may not be supported by the hardware) and the ability to set a pre-defined camera app were missing. Still, the additional bug fixes in GDR2 are nothing to shy away from, including the reduction in the size of Other Storage or the .WAV file support in email.

Today, it looks like those with unlocked and international ATIV S devices, which includes ourselves, are ready to get the update. By heading to your Settings > Phone Update > Check for updates, you can begin to download the OS and new firmware. You will need to be on Wi-Fi to do so and the process to download and prepare will take 5-10 minutes. Then it could take another 20 minutes or so to install the update, depending on how many apps, games and contacts you have installed.

We’re curious as to what this update brings and if it is any different than what those in Canada have received. We’ll follow up as soon as our update process is complete. We only have 871MB free on the device with 5.71GB being devoted to, you guessed it, Other storage. How much will we gain back? Stay tuned.

Update: Our Other Storage has now dropped from 5.71GB to a more reasonable 2.3GB post-update.

Nothing uses BT4
Why would you want to listen to staticy radio? When I had my DVP I used the radio just a few times
The ATIV S has an LTE capable model (Canadian version). The Sprint ATIV S Neo is also LTE capable.

16GB built in storage, large 4.7" screen, LARGE+REMOVABLE battery, and ONLY FLAGSHIP with an SD SLOT (no other 1280x720/768 WP has an SD slot).
I was one was AT&T LTE capable because it would be my primary phone, 95% because of the screen and battery size. Alas the Canadian model doesn't support the LTE band that AT&T uses for 90% of its LTE network.

I have a 920, my wife uses my Ativ S as we gave her 920 to my mom. Hardware wise, I would give a slight edge to the Ativ S, but Nokia has been so supportive of Windows Phone that I absolutely must continue to support them. But the Ativ S is an awesome device, I wish I could steal back it from my wife and jump between the 2 as I see fit.

Would love to have FM Radio,use to lay in bed with my headphones and listen to the ball game, can't do that anymore with the Ativ S.Guess I will wait for the Ativ S 2 to in joy listening to sports again.

Daniel, pretty sure the lack of FM Radio is due to the absence of the WCN3660 chip (which the Lumia 920 has). Pretty sure that's tue reason why the ATIV S hasn't received Bluetooth 4.0 certification. Likely that the ATIV S will never see FM radio.

Yup, but if the ATIV S doesn't have the WCN3660 chip that the S4 (MSM8960) uses for BT4.0/FM Radio then it should be put in the articles so the comments aren't flooded with "Still no FM Radio with the update" comments.

Well then here we go. att sucks there late im getting so bored hearing how this carrier and that carrier has gdr2 ready for update and att ....nothing. my next phone will definitely not be on a carrier I still feel it should be rolled out all at the same time I just don't get it how some are first and it seems like att will be last. only year and a half left on att contract ....cant wait

When will nokia relase amber? I want MS to give devs better access to call API so we could have propper dialer with tile count working, also why we dont have heptic feedback when typing keyboard is great but I like feeling some vibe

I recently stated that gdr2 and amber will take a long time, I stated maybe Sep or Oct and received backlash saying it will be available in June, July the latest.... Still waiting and not expecting it till Xmas

I don't think me and the 70milllion others think Samsung makes crap, but the fact that no matter what OS Samsung is giving feedback and looking out for they customers and pushing out updates I have a Motorola that just got the jelly bean update and it's been 3yrs I will never buy Motorola again

Are u with Telstra? They have only just started testing so I think it will come about a month after att USA gets it, if unlocked it could come anytime. Better that we wait for bugs to be fixed than get it early and have our 920s bricked ala HTC

Man Microsoft, the OEMs, and the carriers are really botching up WP8.
I wish someone would discover an exploit to give us full access to our devices. All we really need to do is change a couple registry entries to enable Data Sense for EVERYONE and gives us the ability to just clean out the temp files ourselves. Oh and unrestrict tethering from the greedy carriers like AT&T which want out on very expensive plans to tether.

carrier free ATIV S here, again in Bulgaria - just recieved and updated the phone. Still other storage is the same as it was before the update - 2.58 GB
And ofcourse no FM radio. I'm seriosly getting pissed at Samsung for all their conundrums, and perhaps it's time to finally return to the herd (NOKIA) after so many years of being away.

I don't want to reset the phone, i'll have to reinstall all the things again, setting up different things again. So no, i think they should do and find a proper way. Getting tired of Samsung's nonsenes ...

Nope, don't have a problem with the latter. Just Samsung and their traditional pos software lineup (goes for all their products, even from the first Symbian based Omnia, to Galaxies and such). So, definetly jumping back with Nokia at the first possible moment.

Yep, I did, but by this I mean I activated Wi-Fi, and then went to Settings -> Update -> Check for updates. It was an active check not a background check.
The downloading took about 7-8 minutes (wifi was slow as shit BTW), another 4-6 minutes preparing the installation and finally the rebooting and effectively installing took 8-10 minutes.
I don't think it's related to the carrier (Orange Romania in my case), but rather related to the fact that the phone is unlocked (not "blocat in retea" as we say).

I did the same thing, active checking but stiil nothing. I guess it will show up in the next few days. Mine is unlocked too, since no carrier sells Ativ S in Romania (many of the sellers don't even know about it )
Good to know that someone here received the update, it''s probably rolling out based on IMEI or something. Too bad I just did a factory reset this morning due to "other" storage issues.

2GB sounds about right for Other Storage. I know other platforms have "Other" storage too and if I remember correctly it is around 2GB as well.
Anything above 4-5GB is unacceptable and hopefully like the article says it will drop.

Transparency? Can you name the update after next for iPhone or Android? How about an estimated release time?
No one is more transparent about their update schedule, that's why WP fanatics get all hot & bothered, because they know its coming.
Have some patience, updates arrive when they arrive. I would not expect GDR3 before the end of November.

So I updated my phone a couple of days ago (unlocked on GiffGaff in the UK.) Didn't do a factory reset and this morning the wifi/3G weren't working (even though it was showing signal for both). So I did a factory reset (my phone was last backed up on Tuesday) which seems to have cured the issue.
However, can someone tell me how I select a backup to download if I can't sign into my account before connecting to my wifi? It doesn't give me a prompt to download a backup when I skip the initial sign in screen, set up the wifi, then go to accounts to sign in with my microsoft account?
When I attempt to sign in at the initial welcome screen, it doesn't detect a signal so can't sign in.
Any help would be appreciated as I'm getting pretty hacked off with it!
Thanks

I have a Unlocked Samsung ATIV S.... updated to GDR 2 ... no features whats so ever they are talking.. ive got no Radio..... No Data Sense.... no other storage issue resolved.... not even my OS Firmware changed (8.0.10211.204) .. please help..

Just a heads up...updated my Samsung ATIV S with GDR2 through Bell. Update requires to reset the phone for features to appear. Once completed I had issues with the Bluetooth in my vehicle and tried to downgrade the update but no luck. At first I thought it was an issue with the phone's BT. Luckly I had a second (spare) Samsung ATIV S with orginal OS. Phone worked great so I decided to update the Phone to GDR2 thinking the BT was faulty in the first phone and once again the BT connection "failed". Now I was faced with 2 phones with the same BT issue (not holding the connection). I went to the New walk-in Samsung Service Center in Mississauga (apparently the only ones capable of restoring to factory settings). Within an hour the phones were restored back to their orginal / factory settings and both phones now connect with the BT in my car. BTW, my vehicle is 1 year old. I spoke to the guys at Bell and they will look into the issue. It's definitely a Microsoft problem.